By Jeff Lipton
Kamran Pourgol has been given the green light by the Village of Lawrence Board of Zoning Appeals and the village's Board of Building Design to build the condos at 275 Central Avenue, across from the Peninsula Public Library, after he agreed to scale back the project to satisfy neighbors.
The two-story building will measure 18,000 square feet, which is the largest apartment complex constructed in more than 15 years in the village, building officials said. The construction project will be similar in scale to the nearby Lawrence Mews, which was built in 1974.
Pourgol was scheduled to begin construction on Monday, July 15 after the village planning board approved the project on July 1 and the board of zoning appeals voted in favor of it on June 26 following a public hearing.
He won support for the project after he agreed to reduce the project from three to two stories and from 12 to 10 units. The building will have an underground parking garage. Pourgol required a variance because 150 feet of street frontage is needed and he will only provide 100 feet, something neighbors said they could live with.
The plan was subject to a number of revisions, said Stan Kopilow, who represented one of the adjoining landowners concerned about the original project. It has been scaled back to accommodate the requests of adjoining residents...It would have been too high and too out of character with the rest of the neighborhood.
We wanted to make sure this building would be constructed in compliance with the law, to whatever extent possible.
The previous building at the site was used as a dentist's office and home and was knocked down by Pourgol to make room for the condos. Even though a three-story building is legal under the village building code, Pourgol agreed to erect a two-story structure to win the favor of neighbors, officials said.
Pourgol is the same developer who built two homes
at Clubhouse Road and Fairway Drive in Woodmere
Park more than a year ago. The homes were about 80
percent completed when the town issued a cease and
desist order when it discovered Pourgol was not abiding
by codes. The homes were being constructed with basements, which is against the law because the buildings are located in a flood hazard zone. The Woodmere Park project also violated side yard and building lot coverage by a small percentage. The Town Board of Zoning Appeals rejected both homes in April and they have been sitting in limbo while the developer decides what to do with them, even though he went to contract on both homes with perspective buyers.
It's absolutely ugly and terrible, said Paul Glasgow, a Woodmere Park civic leader who fought completion of the homes. He said Pourgol could still make modifications to the homes and then reapply to the town for a new permit.
He said the two homes have posed a hazardous condition for neighborhood children and others since dirt piles dominate the street, blocking access to the sidewalk. The sod is being stored over an extensive area and completely blocks off all access for sidewalk pedestrians including children who must now enter into the roadway to avoid the sidewalk obstruction, Glasgow said.
Glasgow warned Lawrence Village officials to be wary of any Pourgol construction project, citing an old adage, a leopard does not change its spots.
Dan Herron, a Lawrence Village building inspector, said he is not concerned about Pourgol's past history in Woodmere Park. He said the developer built two other projects in the village and we have had no problems with them.
Village inspectors will conduct foundation surveys to make sure the building plans are being followed. We will visit the site two to three times a week, Herron said.
Pourgol could not be reached for comment.
